South Carolina will play for the National Championship after Dethroning UConn 62-48 in the Final Four
South Carolina Gamecocks #5 Tessa Johnson (G) going up for a layup while her shot is being challenge by UConn Huskies #21 Sarah Strong (F). Courtesy photo by golfweek.usatoday.com April 3, 2026.
PHOENIX , ARIZ - Geno Auriemma and the UConn Women Basketball Team arrived in Phoenix undefeated and on a 54-game win streak accomplished by trademark discipline and offensive precision with spacing, ball movement, and high-IQ shot creation. All of those trademarks were stifled today by the smothering South Carolina defensive game plan designed by their head coach, Dawn Staley. South Carolina will now face the winner of UCLA or Texas on Sunday in the national championship game.
From the opening tip, UConn had the most boisterous crowd, and it felt like a home game for the Lady Huskies. This was completely opposite from the Regionals in Sacramento, CA where the crowd clearly favored South Carolina.
The first half was played at a frantic pace with both teams battling for every possession. The referees allowed a very physical contest and only called a few fouls. South Carolina was able to remain composed despite their star player, Raven Johnson, getting into foul trouble at the beginning of the second quarter. The UConn women lead 26-24 going into halftime.
This game was won by South Carolina, bursting out of the halftime break with a 12-2 run to flip a UConn 2-point lead into a Gamecocks 8-point advantage. The crowd was now firmly in the Gamecocks' control, and their fans never relinquished control of the building.
The Huskies responded as champions with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers before the end of the third quarter, but South Carolina never relinquished the lead.
In true Husky fashion, UConn closed the gap to 46-44 with 6:37 to play, but the Gamecocks responded with a layup by Maddy McDaniel and a three-pointer by Agot Makeer, that provided the necessary cushion. Center Joyce Edwards deserved the game ball by holding the Huskies’ All-American Sarah Strong to 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting, and grabbed 8 rebounds.
The Gamecocks’ collective defensive pressure held UConn to just 32% from the floor and never allowed the Huskies to get comfortable against speed and energetic rebounding. South Carolina won the rebounding battle 47-32. The tension also seemed to frustrate Auriemma, with one second on the clock, approached coach Staley, and a vigorous shouting match ensued that required the assistant coaches to intervene and separate the coaches.
In the post-game conference, Auriemma blamed the officials for the loss. He said, “Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee names you don’t want to hear…and now we get 6 to 0 [in fouls], and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and the [referees] go ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on man…it’s for a national championship.”
Staley has recently highlighted the need for players to “go through it to grow through it…stressing that difficult, uncomfortable moments are what build necessary long-term mental toughness.” The Gamecocks need that mental toughness on Sunday because the physicality and intensity will be even greater from the Texas-UCLA winner.